Chapter 15 He Yong

In June of the first year of Xiping (AD 172), on a thunderstorm night, Empress Dowager Dou died tragically in Luoyang Palace. Dou's father, General Dou Wu, was defeated and moved to live in Nangong Yuntai, which was actually under house arrest.Emperor Liu Hong ordered that his biological mother, Dong Shi, be brought into Yongle Palace.Although a concubine cannot be established as a queen mother according to the imperial system, she has been called "the queen mother of Yongle" by the eunuchs in private.Although the Dou family is like a prisoner, Empress Dowager Dong is very grateful to her. After all, without her insight, her son Liu Hong could not be the emperor.As a result, there was a period of peace between the two empress dowagers in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

However, Wang Fu and Cao Jie still held resentment towards Queen Mother Dou, and they often had the intention of harming her.At that time, Dong Meng, the order of Huangmen, complained repeatedly for Queen Mother Dou and persuaded the emperor to lift her ban.Cao Jie was afraid that Empress Dowager Dou would pursue her former enemies once she regained power, so she instigated her cronies to write a letter to have Dong Meng imprisoned and executed for "slandering Yongle Palace".But things were very strange, on the night that Dong Meng was executed, Empress Dowager Dou died strangely and violently in Nangong.Although someone suspected poisoning when examining the body at the time, it was still announced that she died of a cold.

As the empress who lost power, Dou's tragic death is actually only a matter of time.But unexpectedly, her death triggered a series of major disturbances. The next morning after Dou's sudden death, the eunuch guarding the palace was busy cleaning the rainwater accumulated in the courtyard of the palace.A small yellow gate wiped his sweat with his head up, only to find a line of large characters carved with a knife on the Vermilion Bird Tower of the Forbidden Palace: "The world is in chaos, Cao Jie and Wang Fuyou killed the Queen Mother, all the ministers are dead, and there is no loyal speaker."

This jargon was originally intended to arouse the emperor's deep thinking, thus satirizing him to abandon eunuchs.Unexpectedly, it backfired. After hearing the news, Liu Hong, the docile little emperor, was furious for the first time!He felt that if someone could sneak into the palace silently, his own safety would be threatened, so he severely reprimanded the guards of Habayashi, and scolded Wei Wei and Guang Luxun bloody.Wang Fu and Cao Jie added fuel to the flames, taking the opportunity to incite Liu Hong to attack Tai students, pointing out that those who left "slander letters" wanted to reverse the case for Dou Wu and Chen Fan, and asked to arrest Tai students.In a rage, Liu Hong immediately ordered Captain Sili to carry it out.

Liu Meng, the lieutenant of the Sili School, was originally a Confucian scholar. When he heard that the Tai students were arrested, he insisted on refusing to obey the order.Liu Hong issued an edict three times, and Liu Meng refused it three times. The confrontation lasted for a month, and finally it developed to the point where the monarch and his ministers were in dispute.In a fit of anger, Liu Hong dismissed Liu Meng and all the officials who supported him. At this tense time, Duan Jiong, who had just been transferred to the capital because of his military merits, volunteered and was willing to come forward to handle the case, so he was immediately appointed as the captain of Sili.

Like Cao Song, Duan Jiong was attached to the power of the eunuch Wang Fu.After he took over, he personally led troops to conduct a thorough investigation of Taixue, and within a few days, more than a thousand Taixue students were locked up and imprisoned. During this period of time, the Cao Song brothers have been working secretly, offering advice and advice to Duan Jiong in the form of letters. In fact, many Tai students were imprisoned by Duan Jiong only at the instigation of the Cao brothers.But interrogating Tai students is an extremely troublesome task. One is that there are a large number of people, and the other is that there are many children of powerful families among them.The interrogation went on for several days and still yielded nothing.The Cao brothers racked their brains and couldn't figure it out, who would sneak into the palace after eating a bear's heart and leopard gall?They even began to suspect that there were ghosts among the eunuch forces.

The truth is often ridiculous.When Cao Song, Cao Chi, and Cao Ding were sitting in the study discussing the arrest of the criminal, Cao Cao, who was separated by a wall, was trying to protect the criminal.He knew the truth of the whole incident. Two months ago, under He Yong's contact, many Tai students wrote letters, asking for the eunuch to be punished.But Emperor Liu Hong turned a deaf ear to it. In his eyes, the eunuchs were all good people, and it would not be a big mistake to participate in some government affairs even a little.Since the legal means failed, He Yong began to launch the assassination plan.That night, despite the dissuasion of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, he sneaked into the Forbidden Palace during the heavy rain.

He Yong's plan cannot be said to be incomplete. He even thought of many strategies to deal with emergencies, but he never expected that Dou would die suddenly that night.The death of the empress dowager is not unusual, Wang Fu and Cao Jie will accompany the emperor to the Nangong Yuntai to guard the coffin, so the temple where they live will be empty.At that time, He Yong really wanted to risk his life to go to Yuntai, but there were so many guards in the Habayashi forest, he was afraid that he would be cut into pieces without seeing Wang Fu and Cao Jie's face, even if he died, he would not harm those eunuchs in the slightest .In desperation, He Yong carved those few lines on the Zhuque Que, took advantage of the rainstorm to escape from the palace, and hid in Yuan Shao's house.

But because the people in the palace discovered it in time, before the city gate was opened the next day, the imperial court's interrogation order came first, strictly examining the identity of the people who left the city.As a result, He Yong was trapped in Luoyang City. Seeing the imperial students being arrested one by one, the search in the city became more and more stringent, Cao Cao was in a hurry, but it was raining all night, and Cao Song forbade him to go out. "why?" "The fugitives are being severely arrested in the city now. If you go out, you will inevitably cause trouble." Cao Song's tone cannot be changed, "Although this case has nothing to do with us, there are many people who are staring at our men these years. One more thing is worse than one less thing, At this juncture, you are not allowed to meet with any outsiders. If any of your friends are involved, the fire will burn on our house. You stay at home honestly, when the matter is calm, what? You are allowed to go out in time." After finishing speaking, they turned back to the study and continued to discuss their plans.

Cao Cao was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, he wished he could break open the gate and run to Yuan Shao's house.But if you do that, it will definitely arouse your father's suspicion, so you have to pace up and down in the garden to think of countermeasures. At this moment, a servant shouted: "Officers and soldiers have entered the mansion!" The blood on Cao Cao's body was almost frozen: it's over!He Yong must have been caught and recruited me.This matter is suspected of assassinating the king and killing the king. Not only is I dead, but the entire Cao family has been destroyed by me. .

"Eldest young master! Eldest young master! You are here, why don't you answer me?" A young servant ran over, "The master told you to go to the front hall quickly. A high-ranking official came with Many soldiers want to see you. Everyone has been looking for you for a while, so go quickly!" Can this be wrong?It must be here to take people, this is impermanence!Cao Cao was disheartened, but he thought again, now that everything is empty, what do you care about?He straightened his chest and raised his breath, clutching the Qingzhi sword tightly in his hand, and strode towards the front hall with his head held high. It was only a short distance from the garden to the front hall, but Cao Cao felt it was endless for the first time.Seeing that the two sides of the path are gradually filled with soldiers, each of them has bright armor and shiny blades.Cao Cao walked forward in a daze, thinking about every step, whether someone would collect his body after his death, whether there would be a righteous man to write poems and odes for him, and whether there would be a group of senior scholars who would consider the epitaph for him Ming... "Crack!" Just as Cao Cao was contemplating his own epitaph, he was hit hard on the back of the head. "You little bastard!" Fourth Uncle Cao Ding appeared in front of him, "I told you to meet guests in the front hall, why are you still walking here without hurrying?" "Visitors!?" "That's right! Duan Jiong is now in favor. He finally came to your house. Your father wants you to meet him. This is for the sake of your future. If you have a chance in the future, you can ask him to support you. Look at you. Take it easy!" "Oh my god!" Cao Cao cried out involuntarily, then hugged his fourth uncle and laughed, "Haha... good! good!" "What's wrong with you kid? Is it a demonic obstacle?" Cao Cao also ignored the surprised fourth uncle, and ran to the front hall.When he reached the entrance of the hall, he jumped in with a stride, and took advantage of the opportunity to kick a flying foot. There are still guests sitting in the room!Cao Song and Cao Chi were happily chatting with Duan Yu about the family affairs, when they suddenly saw Cao Cao jumping into the room, they were startled. Cao Song was so angry that his face was like a big red cloth: "Little beast! What's the matter with you? Why are you so rude! Don't be afraid to frighten Mr. Duan. Go out and kneel for me in the court!" But Duan Jiong laughed loudly: "Forget it! Forget it! I have fought for half my life, how can I be scared by such a little trick?" "What are you doing in a daze, hurry up and salute." Cao Chi also quickly reprimanded. "No. I don't know how many times Mr. Duan has been rude, but my nephew will apologize to you." "You don't need to be polite!" Duan Jiong got up and helped Cao Cao himself. Only then did Cao Cao pay attention to look at it. It turned out that Duan Jiong, who was famous as a Qiang man, had a slender face.Fair face, thin eyebrows, small eyes, and two dimples!It's really unimaginable, how can such a cheerful person travel thousands of miles to defeat the enemy army? "The dog is not talented, brother Duan laughed at him." "My nephew is lively and active, that's good...that's good..." Duan Jiong always had a smile on his face. Cao Song stared at his son angrily, until he stood aside politely, then turned his face and said politely to Duan Jiong: "Brother Ji Ming, why did you bring so many soldiers to my residence today?" "Just now, I have been invited by the imperial edict to allow me to search and arrest the residences of officials of all sizes in the capital. Now I have found in the Taixue the letters of the people who communicated with He Yong, the remnant of the past. Presumably He Yong is in Luoyang City, so all the official residences must be searched." .” Oops!Brother Boqiu has been found out!Cao Cao raised his heart that had just been let go. But Cao Song thought about something else: "Good Duan Jiming, you are just a soldier. If I hadn't pinched my ears to support you, how would you have the seat you have today? How respectful you were to me back then, and now Wang Fu's thigh is still If you don't hug me warmly, you won't put me in your eyes. Our brother even gave you ideas and ways to find a way, and you were the first to come to my house when you were ordered to search the house. Isn't this a bit of a struggle..." Thinking of this, Cao Song changed his cold face and said with a sneer, "Brother Duan must have come to search my house?" "Don't dare! Brother Cao's family, I can rest assured. But..." Duan Jiong changed his tone, "Since I have obeyed the emperor's order, it is not fun to neglect my duties. Tell the soldiers to take a look and leave. Brother Jugao If you are willing to start this way, my errands will be easier to handle in the future." Everyone understood that what he said was just a few words on the scene.Duan Jiong invited the king to order him to come, saying that he still wanted to search if he broke the sky. In fact, Cao Song had a strict family and was confident that he would not tolerate any sinners.But Cao Song couldn't be more angry. Anyone in the world could be ordered to search his mansion, but Duan Jiong couldn't. If he hadn't suppressed Zhang Huan and secretly supported him, Duan Jiong might still be an ordinary general now!He didn't argue, he objected to his son and said, "Meng De, you like military art very much, that's why I asked you to meet Mr. Duan. How is it? You have learned a lot, Mr. Duan's hand is 'clearly repairing plank roads, secretly keeping Chencang' Is that enough for you to learn for a while?" These words are really ironic, and Duan Jiong's face is hot with embarrassment.But after all, the Cao family is kind to him, so they won't get angry, and said with a forced smile, "I can't afford such a compliment from you." It's already extremely polite. Unexpectedly, Cao Song still ignored him, and continued to lecture his son, trying his best to sarcasm: "You have been taught by Lord Duan today, remember to repay you well in the future. Don't be a villain who rewards virtue with hatred, and makes people laugh at you! Say you No liver, no lungs, no conscience." Don't look at Duan Jiong's kind face, but he is a demon king who kills people without batting an eyelid on the battlefield.Although he asked for a thorough investigation of the capital's official residence, he also understood that there were too many people in Luoyang City Tianzi No. 1, so he had to take a powerful approach first.Thinking about the fact that I am new here, I am the only one who is familiar with Cao Song in the capital, so I went to the Cao Mansion first to show off, in fact, I pretended to show it to others.Seeing Cao Song accusing Sang and scolding Huai so much, he felt ashamed in front of the younger generation. He became angry and clenched his fists, but suppressed his anger, and sneered, "Brother Jugao, you must have gone too far!" Cao Song was not in a hurry, and glanced at him with a half-smile: "I'll teach my son a lesson, so is it your turn?" "You're referring to Sang and scolding Huai!" Duan Jiong couldn't hold back anymore. "Hmph! You are so sweet! There are gold collectors and silver collectors in the world. I didn't expect there to be scolders. Today is an eye-opener." Duan Jiong was born as a martial artist, and even ten quarrels tied together are no match for Cao Song.I was so angry that I walked around the house three times, still helpless.Cao Chi has more eyes than Cao Song, so he hurriedly apologized and said with a smile: "My brother was joking with Mr. Duan, don't take it seriously... Ju Gao, since Ji Ming came to your house, he can trust us. Just search, don't say a word sentence." Cao Song really pushed his feet, ignored Cao Chi's words, and continued to sarcastically: "I said, Lord Duan, what are you practicing? You don't search with soldiers, you just push the mill here. You don't want to change the grain and grass. It's been ground, isn't it?" Cao Song was also unscrupulous, and this sentence should never be mentioned.The reason why Duan Jiong was able to win the support of officers and soldiers in running the army all his life was due to his knack for threshing grain.He was born in the Han clan in Liangzhou, and he was extremely excluded by the officialdom, so it was much harder for him to make a difference than others.Therefore, while trying his best to curry favor with the eunuchs, Duan Jiong frantically tried to accumulate military merits, and his method was very despicable.At that time, it was the Qiang people who fought most frequently with the Han people. Duan Jiong connived at the soldiers threshing grain and hay, and told them to plunder the Qiang tribes.Firstly, giving the soldiers some oil and water bought people's hearts, and secondly, after a long period of looting, those Qiang people would be forced to rebel.When the Qiang people rebelled, he would lead the army to put down the rebellion grandly, and if he won the battle, it would be regarded as his contribution to the Jingbian of the Han Dynasty! Duan Jiongben was already furious to the extreme, when he heard Cao Song gouging out his heart with the things he cared about most, he couldn't bear it any longer, and pulled out his saber in a wild animal way: "I'll kill you!" aiming at Cao Song's chest Then stab. This frightened Cao Song, seeing that Jianmangzi was already in front of him.Knowing that she was bound to die, she closed her eyes.But there was a clanging sound in the ear wheel, he opened his eyes and looked again, the sword in Duan Jiong's palm was broken in two. It turned out that Cao Cao was standing next to his father, seeing Duan Jiong drawing his sword in his hand in a daze, he immediately drew his sword to block the fight without thinking too much.Sword blades meet sword blades, but Cao Cao's Qingzhi is one of the most precious guys in a thousand. When two blades fought, they actually broke Duan Jiong's sword in two.Even so, it also made Cao Cao's wrist numb. Duan Jiong held the half-cut sword in his hand, and his mind cleared up instantly; if Cao Song had no son to save him, he would have died by his sword a long time ago, so he didn't dare to say anything more.The two looked at each other awkwardly, neither of them moved. "What a bold Duan Jiming!" With a shout, Cao Dingmai strode in. Cao Cao returned the sword to the box, and let out a sigh of relief: The most inconvenient thing is coming, this time it will be easy. "You fucking have the guts of a bear and a leopard, and dare to use a knife and a staff in Jiuqing's mansion! Are you going to rebel?" Cao Ding didn't care who was right, and scolded, "You still hold the murder weapon in your hand , everyone can see it!" "Clang clang!" Duan Jiong heard that he brought up the serious crime of treason, and quickly threw away the half of the sword. Cao Ding said unrelentingly: "Pat your chest and think about it, how can my Cao family feel sorry for you? You are just a dog of the court, don't forget whose official you are! What is my relationship with the Song family? ? Killing you is like crushing a bug!" Duan Jiong knew that his luck was not good today, first he was ridiculed by Cao Song, then scolded by Cao Ding, even the sword was destroyed by others, so staying here any longer would only bring shame on himself.Hastily sent an order to withdraw the troops, cast a vicious glance at the old and the young in the room, and left in disgrace. "This time, Duan Jiong will be offended!" Cao Chi, who was silent for a long time, finally spoke. "Sooner or later we have to turn against him," Cao Song said angrily. "No and no." Cao Chi shook his head, "Although it is said that those who make friends with each other with benefits, they will be scattered when the benefits are exhausted. But you have gone too far, so what can I ask him to search for?" "Everything is done, what's the use of saying such things again? Soldiers come to block, water comes to cover up, what means does he have, I will follow him!" Cao Ding was still unconvinced. "If you use the Song family to suppress him, he may not be able to obey." Cao Song acted like a normal person, "Let Wang Fu take care of this dog." Cao Cao didn't have time to watch these three old guys bickering anymore, the most important thing right now was to inform He Yong to move quickly.Seeing that the three of them were still holding on to each other, they crept out.His father didn't allow him to go out of the house, and the family servants held him tight, so how could they notify Yuan Shao and the others?Cao Cao racked his brains and finally came up with a dangerous move! He hurried into his younger brother's room and said, "De'er, elder brother has something to ask you, do you care?" Cao De was taken aback: "What's the matter? So serious." "Don't ask too many questions, just answer me with one sentence, do you trust your brother?" "Of course I do." "Okay, you help my brother with something, and my brother will miss you forever." Cao De was amused by his serious face: "What's the big deal, just say it!" "I'm going out for a while." "What? Daddy won't allow us to go out." "But I have something important to do now, so I have to go out. And I must not let my father know." Cao De hesitated for a moment, and said: "This... OK! You just go." "You tell your family in a while that you want to study in the room. Everyone knows your temper, and no one will bother you. Then you sneak into my room, cover the quilt and pretend to sleep, so that everyone will I thought we were both at home." "Then how do you get out?" "The method of my childhood!" "Over the wall again?" Cao De gave him a white look. "I haven't climbed the wall of our house for more than five years, and today I'm looking for the old feeling! I'll leave the matter here to you!" After saying that, he untied his sword and rushed out.He dodged and came to the firewood pile in the backyard again, and while the servant was not paying attention, he climbed up the firewood pile and turned out quickly. When he was on the street, he didn't care whether he looked good or not, so he put his clothes in his pockets and ran to Yuan's mansion.The Han people put a lot of emphasis on etiquette and solemnity, but today, on the streets of Luoyang City, a richly dressed aristocratic son, who didn’t ride a horse or a car, ran past with his feet—this is also a scene! Cao Cao is also really good, and he arrived at Yuan's Mansion after beating around the bush for a while.I saw a vast hall, the gate of Yi was twice as high as that of an ordinary official's house, the purple gate was ajar, and there were horse-mounting stones, dismounting stones, and stakes for tying horses at the door.Yuan Kui had just been promoted to Sikong a few days ago, and the style and rules of the family of the fourth generation and the third prince are quite extraordinary. Cao Cao didn't care too much, so he rushed in with a step.The guard at the gate stopped him: "Who? Dare to trespass on the mansion!" Cao Cao's eyes were red, and he slapped him wisely, "Blind bastard! You don't even know me!" The doorman staggered, ignored him and ran in.When the gatekeeper saw that he opened his mouth, he was slapped. It is expected that relatives would not dare to ask any more questions.He barged into the courtyard majesticly, and the people on the second gate also saw that the visitor was not friendly, but the gate didn't care, so why should he stand out?Just like that, she was fooled into the inner house by him! Passing through the courtyard, the maids and mother-in-law were busy bringing soup and water, when they saw a young man rushing towards him frowning, he was so frightened that he dropped everything in his hand, and the cups and plates were smashed to pieces. Cao Cao ignored him and ran to Yuan Shao's inner room in a hurry, kicking the door. Yuan Shao was reading a book in the room, startled: "You, you... what's wrong?" Cao Cao closed the door, unable to take a breather: "Duan Jiong has found Brother He!" "what?" "He has already started to search the house with his troops! The first one went to my house first, and I'm afraid he will search here soon. Tell Brother Bo Qiu to move quickly!" Yuan Shao was also terrified: "He disguised himself as a groom and was hiding in the stable." "Tell him!" "Keep your voice down. His identity here is the head of the groom. No one knows except my whole family. Calm down and follow me." He walked out of the door as if strolling to the stables, Cao Cao followed closely, wiping his brow full of sweat. In fact, both of them have something on their minds, although the Yuan family can't stay any longer, but where can he hide after leaving this gate?Although Cao's family was barely searched, but the Cao family's family is very strict, and Cao Song is determined to put He Yong to death. Wouldn't it be like seeking skin from a tiger with Cao Cao in the past? But when they arrived at the stable, both of them were dumbfounded, He Yong had already left without making a sound, and only stuffed a silk book under Yuan Shao's saddle.He said that he wanted to avenge the victims of the past, but unexpectedly the timing was not right, and more people were imprisoned, and he was ashamed to cause trouble to his friends, so he left.But where he fled to is unknown. Seeing that he had already left, Yuan Shao felt relieved, holding the silk book in a daze. "The Tai student leaked the secret because of the document." Cao Cao reminded, "Burn it!" "it is good!" "I sneaked out, so I have to go back quickly." "Look at you sweating profusely, ride my horse away!" Yuan Shao hurriedly took off the reins. "No need! Horses can't climb over walls!" He left a sentence Yuan Shao couldn't understand for a long time, turned his head and ran back. The maids and mother-in-law hadn't picked up the broken things yet, and they were sweeping with a broom, and when they saw the unexpected guest come back with great arrogance, they were so frightened that they threw the broom away again. Cao Cao didn't control it, just ran out through the house transfer, the two doorkeepers were all confused: what kind of fucking relative is this?I went in and ran around, why did I go out again after a while?Such a huge mansion of San Gong actually made him run around casually. Cao Cao ran like flying all the way, until he climbed over the wall and entered the courtyard, leaning on the pile of firewood and stopped moving. This trip was really exhausting.Watching the back kitchen, he hurriedly called the chef to bring water, and he was relieved after filling two bowls in succession. "Young Master! What's wrong with you?" Pao Ren asked. "I'm tired from sword practice." Cao Cao's nonsense came as soon as he opened his mouth. After cooling off, Cao Cao began to worry about He Yong again.In terms of character, he is absolutely reliable, even if he is caught, he will not recruit himself.But is such a great talent really going to die at the hands of treacherous ministers?Judging by the tone of his letter to Yuan Shao, will he surrender himself?Will he break into the palace again to think about it? He thought a lot by the woodpile, and didn't realize until it was getting late: Forgot!Del is still in the room covered with a quilt...